I think this teacher will soon have her kids doing high jumps over the state testing proficiency standards:
It's not hard for the kids in Tisha Waller's third-grade classroom at Ashford Park Elementary School to think their teacher hung the moon.
Waller, after all, is an Olympic high jumper.
She welcomed her 20 students Monday morning to the DeKalb County school, then spent two days going over rules, procedures and expectations before leaving for Athens, Greece, and her second Olympics. Waller was ninth in 1996 at the Atlanta Games, the same year she was named Teacher of the Year at Livsey Elementary.
"I look at high jumping as a second career," said Waller, 33, a 10-year teaching veteran. "You have to be dedicated to both. It takes hard work and patience -- definitely -- when you're having those rough days."
Waller teaches reading, writing, arithmetic and resilience, even though her students don't know what that last word means. But Waller explains what it takes to bounce back even higher than before.
"I tell my students, 'You know what? I didn't always win,' " Waller said. " 'I didn't win four years ago, but I continued to work hard, I continued to push, I continued to be determined and it happened.' That's how you teach them. They get it."
The kindergartners she taught last year got it. They're thrilled that their teacher, whom they still see at assemblies and in the hallways, is going to the Olympics.
"My mom said she can jump over my car," said 6-year-old Dresden Sneddon.
"She's got long legs, like a spider," said Dylan Vice, who is also 6. "I hope she wins the gold medal."
"If she gets second place, she's still the best teacher in the world," said Austin Morrison...
This year she moved to third grade, the first level at which elementary children are held accountable to a standardized test, because principal Chris Hornsby needed a strong teacher.
"Test scores for us is the same as performance on the track," said Waller.
You go, girl.
Posted by kswygert at August 12, 2004 11:40 AM